Jimmy Butler is one of the most charismatic players in the entire NBA. His personality on and off the court is fiery, to say the least. With that being said, he has been a staple of Jordan Brand's lineup over the last few years, even if that hasn't translated into his very own signature shoe. Now that he is playing for the Miami Heat, Butler has superstar potential and he is well aware of the opportunities that come with that. 

Butler's contract with Jordan Brand was supposed to end in September of 2020. According to Nick DePaula of ESPN, Butler and Jumpman have mutually decided to end the contract which means the Heat star is now a sneaker free agent. This is huge news for sneaker companies everywhere as it means Butler's talents are up for grabs.

Basketball has become one of the most popular sports in the world and by extension, the NBA is one of the most popular leagues. The last decade has proven to be quite successful for the NBA even if there has been a lack of parity. Perhaps the biggest trend in the last ten years is how popular shooting threes has become. The Golden State Warriors proved that this is one of the most effective strategies and were able to win three of the last five NBA titles because of it.

In a recent interview, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich spoke about how the NBA is a copycat league and that it’s become boring to watch. As he explains, this is mostly because everyone is shooting threes now which in his opinion, takes some fun out of the game. 

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“We all steal from each other, that’s the bottom line,” Popovich said according to Mike Monroe of The Athletic. “None of us [is] innovative. We just look for somebody who did something well, and we copy it. And now we all penetrate and shoot threes, which is very boring.”

Popovich’s comments are certainly interesting and were even echoed by Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. While coaches may not like it, it seems as though the players and fans are more than happy with how things are going.

What do you think of this issue? Is Coach Pop right or is the game in a good place?

This season hasn't been very kind to the Portland Trail Blazers. Aside from the addition of Carmelo Anthony, the team hasn't been able to drum up very much excitement. Their 14-21 record leaves a lot to be desired although somehow, they are still in playoff contention. Regardless, their results on the court simply haven't been good enough for a team that made the Western Conference Finals just a year ago. Last night was another example of the team's struggles as they lost by 24 points to the New York Knicks and no, you didn't read that wrong.

Former player Kendrick Perkins has been spending the last couple of years giving his opinions on the game. Twitter has offered him the best platform to do this and on Thursday morning, he gave his take on what's been going wrong with the Blazers.

Dwight Howard has seen a bit of a career resurgence with the Los Angeles Lakers this season. Throughout his second stint in LA, Howard has proven himself to be the ultimate role player who is willing to do anything the team tells him. His defensive production has been solid and every single night, you can be sure that Howard will give you some entertaining play. On Wednesday night, the Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns and while Howard wasn't exactly spectacular, he was able to achieve a pretty cool milestone.

At one point, Howard earned his 1,000th steal. This means he is only the ninth player in NBA history to record 1,000 steals and 2,000 blocks, according to Justin Kubatko. This is an impressive accomplishment that proves just how effective Howard has been throughout his career.